MONTPELIER — The first-ever MontPolar Frostival, a three-day winter festival, begins Friday, joining the Montpelier Art Walk and kicking off February shows at Lost Nation Theater.

The MontPolar Frostival will feature a formal black-tie and gown event, an oral history project featuring conversations and interviews with city teens and senior citizens, and a specially commissioned contemporary dance performance.

The festival will include more than 45 events altogether, which are mostly free. A programming guide is available at key downtown locations and at City Hall. The schedule is also available online at www.montpelieralive.org.

“This is a brand new event. We’ve never done it before. We have a lot of excited partners,” said Montpelier Alive executive director Phayvanh Luekhamhan.

Activities and events include Ultimate Frisbee on the Statehouse lawn at 1 p.m. Saturday; dancing lessons (anything from Scottish county dancing to belly dancing) and dance performance throughout the weekend; and family events. Also look for the hot chocolate stations downtown to warm up.

Other activities will include a winter hike at the North Branch Nature Center and a snowshoe obstacle course on the Statehouse lawn, both on Saturday, as well as fundraisers like a casino night Saturday at the Capitol Plaza Hotel & Conference Center — it’s $25 in advance and $30 at the door, to benefit the Capital Soccer Club.

For the Snow Ball, three musical groups will perform: the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, the Vermont Fiddle Orchestra and the five-piece Burlington-based rock band Sideshow Bob.

The four-hour ball begins at 8 p.m. Friday at Lost Nation Theater in City Hall. The cost is $15, or $25 for two tickets. Combo deals with the performance dance are available at www.lostnationtheater.org/box.

The performance dance, commissioned by Montpelier Alive for the event, is a special project of the Montpelier Movement Collective. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lost Nation Theater. Tickets again are $15 or $25 for a pair. A 2 p.m. Sunday showing at the theater will be by donation.

The “Voices of Montpelier” oral history project documents stories of winter traditions in Montpelier, from the perspective of both students and senior citizens.

Interviews and photographs will be shown as part of the Montpelier Art Walk, with a presentation at 5 p.m. Friday during the walk, as well as from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit is at the Montpelier Senior Activity Center at 58 Barre St.

Family events

A scavenger hunt will occur Friday and Saturday with a prize drawing Saturday afternoon. At various locations, such as the Kellogg-Hubbard Library and Bear Pond Books, players will find trivia questions to lead them along.

Face-painting will run noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at City Center.

One of the dance events at the Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio at 18 Langdon St., above Onion River Sports, will be a children’s event for those age 8 to 13 at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

A pancake breakfast will be served from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Church at 130 Main St. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children and $20 for families.

So parents can enjoy Saturday night, childcare and children’s activities will be available from 6 to 10 p.m. at Montpelier High School. A suggested donation of $20 is requested, with funds raised helping support the high school student spring trip to Ireland.

Art walk

Montpelier Alive has upped the number of artwalk events to six this year, taking place every other month. The artwalk exhibitions occur on the first Friday of the month at dozens of locations.

Friday’s artwalk, which runs from 4 to 8 p.m., features art works at some 25 venues. Some of the new spaces include an experimental gallery at 6 Barre St. to feature the work of local artist Glen Coburn Hutcheson, as well as the Lost Nation Theater space that houses a photo exhibit, “Green Mountain Graveyards.”

At the Goddard College gallery at 54 Main St. across from City Hall, the work of several New England artists will be shown, including large-scale drawings by Boston-based Michele Lauriat.

At the Vermont College of Fine Arts chapel at 36 College St., an exhibition will feature the work of graduating and returning master of fine arts students.